Did You Know? Satirist Jonathan Swift was the dean of Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral when he wrote “Gulliver’s Travels.” Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease for the Guinness Brewery at £45 in annual rent (1759). Bram Stoker, creator of the fictional Dracula, was a Dublin native son. The O’Connell Bridge
Did You Know? The 16th century pirate queen, Grace O’Malley, patrolled Ireland’s west coast for 50-plus years. Donegal means Fort of the Foreigners, referencing the city’s history as a Viking outpost. Donegal’s central city square is a triangle but called the Diamond. By tradition, St. Patrick spent time on Station
Did You Know? It took six years for 5,000-plus workers to build India’s largest mosque, the Jama Masjid (Friday Mosque). There are approximately 150 graves in Humayun's Tomb. The name of Delhi’s market street, Chandni Chowk, means Silver Street. India has 15 official languages, more than any country; English has
Did You Know? President Lincoln investigated purchasing Cozumel as a home for freed slaves. The Spanish conquest and smallpox left the island virtually uninhabited by 1600. Hernando Cortes began his 1519 conquest of Mexico by making his first landfall at Cozumel. There are up to 250 species of tropical fish
Did You Know? William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was born in Kinsale outside of Cork City. Youghal, on Cork’s coast, claims to be home to the first Irish potato. Cobh in Cork’s harbor was the Titanic’s last port of call. Queen Elizabeth I, unable to gain control of Blarney Castle,
Did You Know? Georg Jensen Silversmiths originated in 1904 when Georg Jensen opened a silver workshop in Copenhagen. An estimated 1.2 million people visit the Little Mermaid statue each year. Walt Disney took some of his inspiration from Tivoli Gardens. Bakken, opened 1583 near Copenhagen, is considered the world's oldest
Did You Know? The Cologne Cathedral, started in 1248, took 632 years to complete; for 282 years, nothing happened. Farina, in Cologne, is the world’s oldest fragrance house (1709). Cologne boasts Germany’s oldest town hall, a Gothic building dating back at least to 1135. The Cologne Cathedral was the world’s
Did You Know ... ? Christchurch was New Zealand’s first established city, in 1856. New Zealand’s first international airport opened at Christchurch in 1950. In two years after its September 2010 quake, Christchurch recorded 4,423 quakes Richter-rated 3.0 or more. Christchurch’s airport is the major base for the U.S. Antarctic
Did You Know? Chester is the only city in Britain that maintains the tradition of a regular midday town crier. One shop in Chester Rows is believed to have Britain’s oldest surviving storefront (c.1200). The Romans used Cheshire Cheese in cheese-rolling contests. Chester is the only British city that retains
Did You Know ... During the French Revolution, Castries was renamed Ville de la Felicite (Town of Happiness). St. Lucia is really the tip of an underwater volcano. Castries was virtually leveled by fires at least four times (1796, 1813, 1927 and 1948). Four in 10 St. Lucians live in
